What Do Students Want? Small Group Instructional Diagnoses of STEM Faculty

Small Group Instructional Diagnoses (SGIDs) are informal, mid-semester evaluations of courses, which the instructors request voluntarily. The facilitator of the SGID comes into a class, the instructor leaves, and the facilitator spends about 30 minutes with the students. The first part of the SGID is done in small groups of students. The facilitator asks students to consider two questions, "What are the strengths of this course?" and "What suggestions do you have to improve the course?" After students work in groups for 10 minutes to compose lists of strengths and suggestions, the facilitator calls the class back together as a whole, records the most important strengths and suggestions, and has the class vote on them. These results are then shared privately with the instructor of the course. We collected and analyzed student comments from 45 courses taught by 27 STEM instructors. We found that students value clear lecture and hands-on learning, fair and frequent feedback, flexible and caring instructors, organized classes and resources, and clear alignment between instruction and evaluation. Looking in more detail, we found that students perceived small classes to be more organized than large ones. Students in introductory classes provided the least amount of feedback. Students in introductory classes placed the most value on instructor characteristics such as support and caring about their success, while graduate students placed the least value on instructor characteristics. Finally, female STEM instructors received a disproportionately high number of comments

Journal on Excellence in College Teaching: Volume 25, Numbers 2

How Are We Doing? Evaluating Facutly Teaching and Assesing Student Learning: A Message from the Editors - Laurie Richlin, Gregg W. Wentzell, & Milton D. Cox Differences in Student Evaluations of Limited-Term Lecturers and Full-Time Faculty - Jeong-Il Cho, Koichiro Otani, & B. Joon Kim First-Year Students\u27 Perceptions of Instruction in Large Lectures: The Top-10 Mistakes Made by Instructors - K. Andrew R. Richards & Juan D. Velasquez Student Evaluations of Faculty Members: A Call for Analytical Prudence - Darryl J. Mitry & David E. Smith Metacognition: Student Reflections on Problem Solving - Shelly Wismath, Doug Orr, & Brandon Good The Impact of Peer Review on Writing in a Psychology Course: Lessons Learned - Naureen Bhullar, Karen C. Rose, Janine M. Utell, & Kathryn N. Healey Using Formative Assessment and Self-Regulated Learning to Help Developmental Mathematics Students Achieve: A Multi-Campus Program - John Hudesman, Sara Crosby, Niesha Ziechmke, Howard Everson, Sharlene Isaac, Bert Flugman, Barry Zimmerman, & Adam Moylan Intellectual Curiosity in Action: A Framework to Assess First-Year Seminars in Liberal Arts Settings - Kenneth H. Kolb, Kyle C. Longest, & Jenna C. Barnet

Journal on Excellence in College Teaching, Volume 7, Number 2

A Message from the Editors - Laurie Richlin & Milton D. Cox Promoting Student Learning Through Questioning: A Study of Classroom Questions - Sandra Edwards & Mary Ann Bowman From Student Narratives to Case Studies: Diversity from the Bottom Up - Diane Gillespie, Jeannette Seaberry, & Joseph Valades Relational Pedagogy: Investigating Together in a Project Discovery Mathematics Course - Marcia B. Baxter Magolda & Jennifer Buckley Energizing the Introduction to Education Classroom Through Experiential Learning - Kathleen Montgomery, Cathleen Deery, & Susan Brown Students\u27 Perceptions of Excellent Lecturers and Discussion Leaders - Gary S. Goldstein & Victor A. Benassi Teaching Strategies for a Barrier-Free Classroom - Rachelle Waksler Breathing the Words: What Students Have Taught Me - Susan Streeter Carpente

Journal on Excellence in College Teaching: Volume 25, Numbers 1

Teaching for Civic Engagement: A Message from the Guest Editor - C. Lee Harrington Lessons in Citizenship: Using Collaboration in the Classroom to Build Community, Foster Academic Integrity, and Model Civic Responsibility - Ann E. Biswas Solving Real Community Problems to Improve the Teaching of Public Affairs - Abdulfattah yaghi & Madalla Alibeli Teaching Evidence-Based Practice in Service-Learning: A Model for Education and Service - John D. Terry, Bradley H. Smith, & Samuel D. McQuillin The Impact of a Service-Learning Experience in Mentoring At-Risk Youth - Leah Wasburn-Moses, Jay Fry, & Kari Sanders Speak Out Loud: Deconstructing Shame and Fear through Theater in a Community-Based Service-Learning Project - Karina Vazquez Teaching Diversity Through Service-Learning: An Integrative Praxis Pedagogical Apprach - Julie Steinkipf Rice & Terri Horn Service-Learning: A Tool to Develop Competencies for College Student

Journal on Centers for Teaching and Learning

CTLs as Genre: A Message from the Editor in Chief - John Paul Tassoni Teaching Centers as Teaching Advocates: Navigating University Politics - Peter Lindsay Engaging in a Collaborative Project as a Team-Building Strategy During a Period of Organizational Change - Zack Lee, Lydia Jones, Roselynn Verwood, Isabeau Iqbal, & Janice Johnson Writing in Action: Scholarly Writing Groups as Faculty Development - Kurt Schick, Cindy Hunter, Lincoln Gray, Nancy Poe, & Karen Santos Learning from Each Other: Involving Students in Centers for Teaching and Learning - Alison Boye, Micah Meixner Logan & Suzanne Tapp A Peer-Based, Dissemination Model of Professional Faculty Development: A Story - Alan Altany The New Faculty Development? Exploring the Relationship Between Human Performance Improvement (HPI) and Current Best Practices in Faculty Development - Eric Grosse A Study of the Impact of Services of a University Teaching Centre on Teaching Practice: Changes and Conditions - Claire Belanger, Marilou BHelisle, & Paul-Armand Bernatche